Waste, Transparency & Corruption
Warning strikes lead to negotiated settlement
Pressure on the employer from a series of warning strikes at the Suez Süd waste company, enabled services union ver.di to secure a new pay agreement that runs until 31 December 2018. The first pay increase of 2% is backdated to 1 August this year and the next pay rise will be a further 2% from 1 August next year. There will also be two lump sum payments, one net payment of EUR 150 and one of EUR 125 gross. Apprentices will get an extra EUR 275 this year and EUR 150 next year.
European Parliament supports demand for whistleblower protection – you can help by signing the petition
Following a campaign of unions such as EPSU and Eurocadres, many social action groups and MEPs of several parties, the European Parliament adopted a report on the need for an EU initiative on whistleblower protection, 24 October.
EPSU’s Utilities Committee promotes just transition while condemning liberalisation
The concept of Just Transition was at the heart of the discussion at the EPSU’s Utilities Standing Committee where decarbonisation and digitalisation of the European economy were deeply debated amongst members.
Solid support for waste workers' strike
The STAL trade union reports a high level of support for strike action at the RESIESTRELA waste company part of the EGF multinational. The strike is over pay, a pay structure and the right to collective bargaining. The union says that workers at RESIESTRELA are the lowest paid in the EGF group with no developed pay or career structure. STAL has been raising these issues with EGF for many years but the company has refused to negotiate.
Cleaners, janitors, waste workers and civil servants take strike action
Public service workers across the UK have been involved in number of disputes over pay, jobs and safety. Waste workers in Birmingham and Doncaster are taking or planning action over pay and safety while cleaners at four hospitals in East London are continuting their campaign for a higher pay increase against outsourcing company Serco. Meanwhile in Sheffield members of the PCS civil service union are taking strike action in protest at the closure of a local Job Centre, part of a campaign against government proposals for closures across the country. Finally, janitors in schools across Glasgow
New framework agreement at Veolia
(April 2017) Services union ver.di has negotiated a new framework agreement with the Veolia waste and environmental company which it sees as a landmark agreement in a sector which has seen a substantial erosion of collective bargaining coverage with intense wage competition. Around 4500 employees will be covered by the agreement which will include rules on working time, leave, additional payments and retirement and other social provisions.
Union wants action on precarious work in waste sector
(March 2017) The waste and environment section of the FNV trade union highlights the findings of a recent report that found more than a third of workers (34%) in the waste sector working on precarious contracts. The union stresses in particular that this raises serious safety issues. There are problems of ensuring that agency workers, for example, get all the appropriate protective clothing and appropriate training. The union also argues, as in a recent case, that precarious workers are more likely to be involved in workplace accidents, often taking too many risks in trying to show they are